


Widow Bite

by Manickmondays



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: M/M, MCU inspired not MCU compliant, based off the uncivil war poster, genderskew au, i have a better name now thanks b, marvel AU, so pls don't come at me i am doing my best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 04:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6938779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manickmondays/pseuds/Manickmondays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, Mr. Romanov, are you the international man of mystery I’ve heard so much about?” Ryan gave a cocky smile and nodded a bit at Gavin, who dodged his gaze with a demure little simper.<br/>“That would depend. Are you the… playboy billionaire I’ve heard so much about?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Widow Bite

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SailorBryant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorBryant/gifts).



If invited to a Haywood Industries gala, you didn’t just _not_ go. Whether you were a super-soldier or a super-billionaire, you were expected to show up. If you were somebody- and you were rarely invited if you weren’t- not showing up spelled the death of your social life with that crowd, and it was often a dangerous crowd to be in the wrong with.

So when an artfully gilded invitation slipped through Gavin’s mail slot, addressed to one Mr. Nikita Romanov, he set to finding his nicest gown (and finding out how the hell bloody _Iron Man_ found out where he lived- probably strong-armed some poor S.H.I.E.L.D. intern). He kept the invitation pinned to his refrigerator, constantly making sure he wasn’t headed somewhere on the night of the gala, because it would be a real shame if he ended up knee deep in snow in Siberia when he could be glamorously making his way around a social function _he_ chose to go to.

Gavin was no stranger to occasions like this, but he always had an agenda. There was always some door to slip into, some man to drag into a closet and ‘dispose of’, some plans to steal, some mission he was on. But that night, he planned to do little more than wander about with a glass of champagne that cost more than his rent for the year and schmooze. He’d be getting something out of it, true, he’d be making connections that could save his life someday, but he didn’t mind that.

He liked making friends.

The night of the gala came swiftly, and Gavin was astonished to find a ride waiting for him outside his apartment. It seemed the man really knew how to plan an event- color him impressed. He was even more pleased at the little dry bar in the back of the armored SUV, happy to start drinking even before he had arrived at the event. He stepped out of the car to the opulent mansion and couldn’t contain his little impressed gasp. There had to be thousands of people here, and there were streams of people in tuxes and gowns flowing into the mansion. Gavin didn’t know many of them; he didn’t often spend time with the ultra-rich, but he recognized a handful of powered people from his leisurely hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s databases last month. He liked to claim he was helping them search for weaknesses, and if he absorbed a little information on the way, that was just a bonus.

Gavin managed to _literally_ bump into Captain America, skillfully keeping all his champagne in his glass. All that training wasn’t for nothing, then.

“Oh, ma’am, I’m so sorry!” He jumped a bit and Gavin caught sight of the little shield pin on his lapel. How cute.

“No, no I wasn’t looking where I was going, James, don’t trouble yourself.” Gavin took a practiced sip of his champagne, careful not to ruin his subtle glossy lipstick. James furrowed his brow a bit, clearly recognizing who exactly he had bumped into.

“Oh, G- _Nikita_ , I didn’t know you’d been invited.” Gavin waved a hand and chuckled a little.

“Don’t bother with the fake names, I’m not on a mission. Just call me Gavin. Perhaps just not too loudly.”

A decidedly female voice piped up next to James, and Gavin finally noticed the short blonde on his arm. “It’s good to see you then, Gavin.”

He had a brief moment of searching for her name before it popped into his head, along with some other useful information. _Elyse Willems, 30, ex-military, codename: Falcon_. “It’s good to see you too, Elyse!” He wrapped an arm around her, keeping his drink away from her no doubt expensive gown. The steely gray dress and painted feathery capelet must have cost a fortune, though it’s not as if they couldn’t afford it. Saving the world actually tended to pay pretty well, if you knew the right people. “No Adam?” The couple got a grave look on their faces, James trying to crack a placating little smile.

“He’s… not feeling up to it.” Gavin nodded somberly and laid a gentle hand on James’ arm.

“I understand.” He smiled softly, trying to lighten the mood. “I’ll see you both around, yeah? And perhaps at something a bit more… subdued, I’ll get to see Adam.” James nodded a bit as Gavin left the pair with a wave.

He didn’t _lie_ to James, he wasn’t on a mission officially, but he had given himself a personal one- to find out just what the hell Ryan Haywood knew about him. He hadn’t turned up any information about a potential breach of any kind, except the one he had orchestrated, and he was no closer to finding out how Haywood had found his apartment. It was innocuous enough information, but it told Gavin the man was much more cunning than he let on. So he was going to ooze charm and do anything he could to ensure he talked.

Easily enough he found his way over to the man himself, drifting through the crowd gracefully. Surprisingly, he wasn’t surrounded by a circle of cooing, scantily clad women as Gavin had been led to believe. He was alone for the moment, leaning against the bar. Gavin seized his chance, sidling up to him with a hooded, flirty look. (He was, in no way, above flirting to get what he wanted.)

“Mr. Haywood, I would presume?” Gavin smiled and fluttered his lashes a little, really playing up the charm, as if the silky red gown wouldn’t do half the work for him. Gavin’s eyes flicked quickly to the champagne flute ever so delicately held in a likely trademarked red and gold metal hand, very aware that he was in the presence of a considerably powerful weapon the man was wearing like a fashion accessory.

“Oh, Mr. Romanov, are you the international man of mystery I’ve heard so much about?” Ryan gave a cocky smile and nodded a bit at Gavin, who dodged his gaze with a demure little simper.

“That would depend. Are you the… playboy billionaire I’ve heard so much about?”

“Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist- it’s on my business card.” A business card Gavin quickly found being offered to him, all gilded with a faint holographic arc reactor gracing the center. “Does that change your answer?”

Gavin gave a gracious little nod of his head, looking briefly between the card and the real arc reactor glowing softly underneath his no doubt tailored dress shirt, “That it does, Mr. Haywood-”

“Ryan, please, I get enough of the Mr. Haywood stuff at stockbroker meetings.” Ryan waved a hand dismissively.

“Mmm, must be exhausting to be in rooms full of the super-rich all the time.” He shot Ryan a coy look as he took a sip of his champagne. “I must admit, I’m curious as to why you’d invite me to this sort of function. There some sort of technological announcement you’re just dying for Black Widow to know about?”

“No, no, no announcements tonight. Thought I’d have a few friends over. Besides, people come just for this.” He waved his armored hand a bit. “Shoot an ice statue and suddenly you’re everyone’s favorite.”

“How easy it is for you to curry favor, Ryan.” Ryan chuckled and shrugged his shoulders, and Gavin could tell he didn’t mind a little destruction in turn for a little loyalty.

“But I just wanted to see if you’d come, for one. And here you are, so I’ve learned that much.” Gavin tried to keep his gaze from turning murderous, because surely Ryan wasn’t foolish enough to try and _learn_ anything about him. This couldn’t be what the invitation was about. “I am also just so kind as to give S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best and brightest a night out where he might not have to have a gun on him.”

“Then you misunderstand me, Ryan, because I am armed to the teeth under this gown. Wouldn’t leave my apartment if I wasn’t.” Gavin watched a little shiver race down Ryan’s spine, and he wasn’t sure if it was at the insinuation of weaponry or him gown-less. Both worked in his favor, so he let Ryan take what he wished from the comment.

“I see.” Ryan’s eyes trailed down Gavin’s form, and Gavin could tell he was searching for where he kept all those weapons.

“It’s the belt. If you’re wondering.” Gavin tapped the wide elastic lightly cinching his waist, and Ryan nodded sagely in response.

“Very fashionable. Very practical. I admire something that can be both.” It was Gavin’s turn to suppress the thrill coursing through his body at the look Ryan gave him along with the comment. He could seduce like no one else, but it didn’t mean the tables couldn’t be turned on him.

_Keep your cool, you’re a professional._

Despite his self-admonishments, Gavin felt a little heat grace his cheeks and he could see by the cocky smirk on Ryan’s face he saw it as well.

“You’d be surprised the situations this thing has gotten me out of.” Gavin’s calm demeanor was more forced now, he felt his power in the situation ebbing away, and it was not a position he liked to be in. He cleared his throat, trying to clear his head more than anything. “Ryan, you’re a smart man, so I won’t waste your time any longer,” Gavin’s smile dropped and a set settled firmly in his brow, but Gavin didn’t see the expected pallor take over Ryan’s face. He was a man of more strength than expected. Admirable. “How the hell did you find my apartment?”

“Easy.”

Gavin cocked his head a bit, “Easy?”

“Sure, when you’ve got a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent a couple doors down placed there specifically to keep an eye on _you_ , it’s pretty easy to figure out where you live. They’re not exactly subtle about the fact they don’t trust you.” Gavin tried to contain his shock behind a sip of champagne. “Sure, sure, they didn’t put the apartment in your name, but under something more inconspicuous like, say, a Gavin Free?”

And Gavin knew he had been made. Ryan was smiling like the cat that got the canary, and he _oozed_ smugness. So Gavin took a breath and cut his losses, perhaps he hadn’t lost cover but gained an ally. Someone who trusted only themselves fully and was smart and capable… his security error might be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

“Well-” Gavin gave a demure smile- “color me impressed. I didn’t even manage to find that information on my run through their secure files.”

“Hidden from your IP.” Ryan took a positively tiny sip of his champagne, the first he had taken since they had started speaking, grimacing as he did. “Even if you use a blocker, they can tell. To you, that file doesn’t exist. To me, it does. Easy.”

“As long as you don’t go around telling everyone my name, I can let you live.” They both smirked at each other as if they were ignoring that Gavin wasn’t above murdering an ex weapons tycoon to keep himself safe.

“My lips are sealed, Mr. Romanov.” Ryan winked and Gavin shook his head a little, spying someone in the crowd making a beeline for Ryan, another name he managed to conjure up. _Michael Jones, 28, current military personnel, codename: War Machine_.

“Well, Ryan, you are quite the enigma. I’m going to be spending a _lot_ of time trying to figure you out.”

“Does that mean you’re going to be thinking about me at home alone?”

Gavin paused, blinking a bit at the forward comment. He laughed it off, putting on airs of amusement, “In a way, yes. See you around, yeah?”

“Ryan!” Michael called out, and Ryan turned to throw up a hand in greeting. When he turned back, Gavin had disappeared into the crowd.

“Guess I’ll… see you?” Ryan furrowed his brow in search of Gavin making his way through the crowd, but he had disappeared.

“Duuude, was that Black Widow?” Michael had appeared at his elbow, and Ryan spared a thought for how people just seemed to be appearing and disappearing a lot more often than they should.

“Oh uh, yeah. Yeah it was.” Ryan took another sip of his champagne, enjoying it as little as he did previously. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t traded it out for something not dry and bitter. Maybe he liked the added class a glass of champagne gave him. Who knows.

“Shit, I didn’t think he’d show up when you told me you’d invited him. Hear he’s a real private guy.”

“That _is_ why I did it, Michael. Hey,” Ryan gently smacked Michael’s arm with the back of his armored hand, maybe a little too hard by how he flinched, “Do you think I could sleep with him?”

Michael coughed up a little of the sip he was taking, turning to gape at Ryan in surprise. “Let me ask you this. Do you enjoy having a dick?”

“I mean, as much as anyone, yeah.”

“Then no. He’ll rip your dick right off when you’re done. Or during!”

Ryan shook his head, finally putting his champagne down and resigning to get something to drink he enjoyed. “I’m gonna do it.” He waved the bartender down and nodded a little, in the little way they had worked out that meant _please god no more alcohol I just need a Diet Coke._

“No fuckin’ way.” Michael took another sip of his drink, keeping it all down this time. “No fuckin’ way!”

“Just you wait. End of the night I’ll have made it happen.”

“I’d pay you if a hundred dollars meant anything to you.”

Ryan picked up the glass that had just been slid to him with a grateful little tilt of his head, taking a sip and trying not to just… cry with relief. “From you? Any money would be amazing.”

“It’s a bet then. If you manage to sleep with Black Widow and not die, hundred dollars, no problem.” Michael shot him a smug look as Ryan stuck out his hand to accept the deal.

“You’re on.”

The night wore on, Ryan keeping the bet in the back of his mind. It was hours before he caught sight of Gavin, calling him over and preparing to turn up the charm.

“Good to see you again, Mr. Romanov. Spent any time thinking of me?” Gavin flushed a little and took a sip of his drink to disguise it. He had picked up something other than champagne; it was flagrant, pink, and sugared around the rim.

“As a matter of fact, I have.” In an instant Ryan felt the atmosphere shift, Gavin purring silkily and stepping forward made the noise of the gala fall away, until it felt like just the two of them there. Gavin seemed to want him as bad as he wanted Gavin and the thought made his heart skip a beat.

“You know, there’s plenty of private space upstairs if you wanted to get away from this crowd.” Ryan moved a little closer to Gavin, tilting his head so he didn’t have to speak loudly.

“And you think I’ll be needing that?”

“We might.” He heard Gavin gasp and step back, hand coming to daintily hover over his heart. Gavin’s eyes flicked over his face, searching for… something; an indication Ryan’s proposition was a joke, perhaps.

“Everything rational in me is telling me to run away and yet…” Gavin trailed off, lips still parted slightly. Ryan fought himself to not claim his mouth then and there- he neede to save that for the privacy of upstairs.

“Shall I escort you?” Ryan offered an arm with a _slightly_ schmaltzy little smile and Gavin takes it hesitantly, clearly a little out of it. Not used to being hit on and accepting it, probably.

“You won’t be missed down here?”

“No, no, I’ve made my appearance. People will assume I’m here and won’t come looking for me.” Gavin looked down at the arm in Ryan’s, manicured nails pulling lightly at the material of Ryan’s suit.

“Well then, Ryan, take me away.”

**Author's Note:**

> listen i'm still bad at titles  
> i really would have had this up sooner but health issues then travel then lazy!  
> come find me on tumblr at [m4d-m4x](http://m4d-m4x.tumblr.com/)


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